1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the construction industry, and relates more specifically to a construction system and method for constructing multi-story buildings including high-rise buildings using premanufactured structures.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional building construction methods have focused on the cost and efficiency advantages of having construction mostly manufactured at the manufacturing plants or factories. Current construction techniques that use manufactured housing structures include building modules of a certain room to be delivered to a construction site. Manufactured housing techniques offer some advantages over on-site construction methods. For example, construction for manufactured housing may be carried out year round regardless of the weather since manufacturing within a factory or plant can occur indoors. Manufactured housing methods also require less time to complete construction since assembly lines are more efficient than requiring less streamlined field work on-site.
However, it is not always cheaper to manufacture the modules at a manufacturing plant or factory to be delivered to the construction site for further integration and finishing on-site. Handling of modules can be extremely difficult, time-intensive and cost-prohibitive since there are weight and craning issues. Shipping modular structures or spaces can raise transportation issues due to weight and space problems. Due to sizes of the modules, trucks may only fit one to two modules at the most to deliver to the construction site. Lifting the modules to and from the trucks require huge cranes at the manufacturing plants as well as at the construction sites.
On-site construction is conventionally preferred for building high-rise and multi-story buildings because manufactured housing techniques are not adapted for building such building structures. Therefore, the present invention utilizes manustructures or premanufactured structures to overcome the limitations of utilizing manufactured housing structures or modules in constructing high-rise and multi-story buildings.
The advantages of the present invention is a construction system and method using as many repetitive and self-sustaining construction methods and as many preassembled and prefinished components as possible. Preassembled and prefinished components are constructed in a manufacturing facility, transported to the construction site and permanently installed within the structure in conjunction with other components to create a fully finished, comfortable and weather-tight living environment.
Standardizing the components and constructing them in a manufacturing facility certainly provide the advantages of reduced materials waste, reduced energy costs and increased labor productivity. The initial assembly of the components may eventually become automated, but currently has the advantage of being carried out by less skilled labor under the supervision of highly qualified managers. Given that assembly will occur in an environmentally controlled setting, the quality of the product can be closely monitored. The potential for mold or materials damage due to exposure may be reduced by the present invention.
The present invention construction system and method results in rapid construction of multi-story buildings with institutional grade construction quality by saving time and money that takes half the time of conventional construction approaches for truly sustainable multi-story buildings.
Therefore, the present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations associated with multi-story modular construction and conventional construction methods to yield an energy efficient structure that can be constructed at a highly accelerated schedule at a low cost and continue to operate with very low maintenance expenses. The present invention is directed to a construction system and method for building structures of three or more stories comprised of premanufactured, preassembled, and prefinished components requiring little or no additional finishing after leaving the factory. The present invention may be used to build residential, hospital, institutional, or any multistory buildings alike for creating an energy efficient, inexpensive, and flexible building for quick assembly for multiple purposes.